1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to room fragrance devices. Particularly, the present invention relates to passive room fragrance devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fragrance devices are often used in the home and include fresh fragrant flowers and fruits. When fresh fragrant flowers and fruits are not in season, or not desired due to cost, pollen allergies, or other considerations, natural and manmade fragrance devices have been utilized. These fragrance devices include potpourri, candles, incense, perfumes, toilet waters, fragrant aerosol sprays and gel-type air fresheners.
Potpourri often contains a mixture of wood chips and dried flowers, fruits, leaves, nuts and the like that have either a natural fragrance or a fragrance imparted onto the mixture. In the home, the use of containers to hold colored and scented potpourri is well known. Potpourri, however, spills easily, gets dusty, degrades and generally becomes messy.
Candles, when burned, produce an aesthetic ambiance and a pleasant fragrance. Nevertheless, burning candles are unsuitable for use in homes with small children or pets where a lit candle can be accidentally knocked over causing burn injuries or resulting in a house fire. In addition, burning candles produce hot wax that can damage furniture or create injury. Likewise, incense must be burned in order to produce a scent. Burning incense, like a burning candle, can also be accidentally knocked over resulting in an increased risk of burn injuries or a house fire. Burning incense also produces messy ashes.
Aerosol perfumes, aerosol toilet waters and fragrant aerosol sprays of varying pleasant aromas are also well known to dispense a scent into a room. Aerosol particles dissipate into the air quickly, however, resulting in a need to spray the perfume, toilet water or other fragrant aerosol again and again at relatively short time intervals to maintain the desired level of fragrant scent.
Gel-type air fresheners are yet another type of air freshener. These are available in a passive configuration that sits on a shelf and in an active configuration that plug into an electrical outlet. This type of air freshener gives off a scent over a greater period of time. Even though improvements in the appearance of gel air fresheners have occurred, such air fresheners often have an industrial, unsightly appearance that detracts from a home's decor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,539 (1988, Spector) discloses a reversible on-off fragrance emitting unit that is adapted to rest on a flat surface in either an upright or an upside down position. In one position, no fragrance is emitted. In the other position, a fragrance is emitted. The unit consists of a vented cylindrical shell closed at its upper end by a cover plate and at its lower end by a bottom wall. Disposed within the shell and secured to the cover plate is an absorbent pad. Joined to the pad is the leading end of a series of interhinged absorbent elements in an accordion formation. The trailing end of the series is joined to a weight whereby when the unit is upside down, the accordion is collapsed on the bottom wall and compressed by the overlying weight. When the unit is reversed in position and is made upright, the weight drops to the bottom wall, thereby expanding the accordion. The pad and the elements of the accordion are impregnated with a volatile fragrance, the pad acting as a reservoir therefor, whereby in the upside down position of the unit when the accordion is collapsed, no fragrance is emitted, and when in the upright position in which the accordion is expanded to expose the elements thereof, fragrance is emitted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,349 (1990, Locko) discloses a device for dispensing volatile fragrances. The device comprises a hollow body and a liquid volatile fragrance contained within the hollow. The liquid volatile fragrance diffuses through a closure member made of a silicone rubber body to the outer surface where it is volatilized to disperse in the surrounding atmosphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,616 (1992, Bernarducci et al.) discloses an air freshener device with visual signal means. The air freshener device indicates when air freshening fragrance formulation contained therein is consumed. The device has a plurality of chambers which contain the same or different fragrance formulations. The inner walls of the chambers are contrastingly colored with respect to the fragrance formulation so that, when the fragrance formulation is consumed, the colored walls are exposed indicating to the user that the formulation within that chamber has been depleted. The multi-chamber feature of the device provides the possibility of multiple fragrance choices and, at the same time, allows for the release of fragrance for an extended period of time.
Sheet, or towelette, dispensers are commonly known in the field of personal hygiene. Personal hygiene sheet dispensers often contain combined dispensing and closure assemblies with sheet dispensing apertures designed and sized to prevent the protruding liquid-soaked sheet from drying out or from acting as a wicking component causing evaporation of the wet cleansing solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,867 (2000, Stelmack) discloses a towelette dispenser where the dispenser includes a closure having a well sized and shaped to receive and store a portion of a towelette extending out of the opening. The dispenser also includes a selectively movable cover having an opening defined therein that, when brought into alignment with the well, permits access to a towelette. When not in alignment, the movable cover establishes a substantially air-tight seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,353 (1998, Kanfer et al) discloses a towelette dispensing closure assembly for attachment to the lid of a container for the storage and dispensing of towelettes so as to be receivable within a preformed keyhole-shaped opening in the container lid. The assembly includes a body with a main radially extending flange larger than the opening in the lid. The lower portion of the body carries radially extending locking tabs which are dimensioned to fit through the lid opening and, upon the closure being turned, to engage the lower surface of the lid in opposed relationship with the flange which engages the upper surface. Antirotation tabs also extend radially of the lower portion of the body and again, upon rotation engages the edges of the lid opening to thus secure the closure on the lid. A cap is also provided to releasably engage the upper portion of the closure body to provide a substantially airtight seal for the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,514 (1996, Frazier) discloses a wet wipe dispensing nozzle with rotatable port. The centerflow dispenser includes a dispensing nozzle affixed to the container of wet wipes. The nozzle has a rotatable dispensing disk with dispensing orifice therethrough which includes a node and a plurality of contiguous appendages such that the disk will rotate to the path of least resistance as the saturated wipers are drawn through the dispensing orifice regardless of the direction of extraction through the orifice. One or more drain holes are provided through the dispensing disk to allow liquid squeezed from the wiper as it is drawn through the dispensing orifice to pass back into the container. The nozzle includes a funneled section which collects any liquid squeezed or which may drip from the wipe as it is extracted from the container and directs that liquid toward the drain holes in the dispensing disk. A cap is provided which sealingly engages the nozzle to limit vapor emissions from the container when the cap is in the closed position.
International Publication No. WO 01/74687 A1 (2001, Buck et al.) discloses a wet wipe container with flexible orifice so that a user may reach through the slits to grasp a wet wipe in the event that the pop up feature fails. Further, the nature of the flexible, rubber-like material or sheet having the slits must, among other things, be sufficiently stiff to maintain a reasonable impediment against evaporation losses and to hold the wet wipes in the pop-up position.
It should be understood that the cleansing liquids used in wet wipes generally consist of water and alcohol in order to enhance evaporation of the liquid in a relatively short time period after a wet wipe is used. This formulation is the reason the prior art is concerned with the use of airtight seals to prevent evaporation of the liquid in the wet wipe container.
Therefore, what is needed is a fragrance dispenser system that allows dispensing of a room fragrance at a variable rate. What is also needed is a fragrance dispenser system that is a passive fragrance dispenser that uses a plurality of separable sheets. What is further needed is a fragrance dispenser system that can be used as a drawer or closet fragrance applicator. What is still further needed is a fragrance dispenser that can be used as a personal fragrance applicator. What is yet further needed is an aesthetically pleasing fragrance dispenser system that complements the decor of a room.